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2011-Sustainable Industrial Processing Summit
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| Editors: | Florian K |
| Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
| Publication Year: | 2012 |
| Pages: | 754 pages |
| ISBN: | 978-0-9879917-3-7 |
| ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
Light Weight Lead Acid Batteries Towards Electrical And Hybrid Electrical Vehicle Applications
ROBERT LIU1; Ramachandran Kumar2;1UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom; 2UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE, Cambridge, United Kingdom;
Type of Paper: Keynote
Id Paper: 259
Topic: 12
Abstract:
To date, the lead-acid electrochemical system is one of the most successful ever developed and even now no other system is yet able to compete on cost grounds. Despite having the second lowest energy to weight ratio, the lead-acid system is able to supply high surge currents and therefore maintain a relatively large power-to-weight ratio. Add to this their low cost, well established worldwide manufacturing and recycling infrastructure, wide availability of raw materials, and their reliability of operation, lead-acid batteries are still a very attractive and viable source of power. The main disadvantage to the lead-acid system is its weight, which is due to the heavy lead electrode; this is one of the areas other chemistries such as the Lithium (Li) ion system have the main advantage. This has resulted in so much emphasis on producing Li based batteries for Electrical Vehicles (EVs) that the lead-acid battery, the most established automotive battery for over 100 years, has not been seriously considered for the next generation of EVs and Hybrid Electrical Vehicles (HEVs). This is particularly surprising given the cost advantages are by a factor of 10.In this project, foundations will be laid for the next generation of low-cost, light weight and high energy density lead based electrochemical systems. A potential method of producing nanoparticles for use in lead acid batteries to increase the level of efficiency in these systems is explored. PbO precursors formed by leaching-crystallization-combustion method have been characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), secondary electron microscopy (SEM), BET surface area analysis, elemental mapping and Cyclic Voltammetry. The microstructure and size of the active component from commercial sources was successfully altered using the method and depending on the mode of processing, different microstructural and chemical characteristics were observed.